'First BJP vs INDIA fight': AAP, Cong tie up for Chandigarh mayor polls

The INDIA bloc will sweep the Chandigarh municipal polls and the win will be the curtain raiser for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha said on Tuesday.

The AAP and the Congress -- both INDIA bloc members -- forged an alliance on Monday for the January 18 mayoral polls in the Union Territory.

Chadha told a press conference in New Delhi that he was sure that the INDIA bloc will defeat the BJP in the elections in Chandigarh.

"The Chandigarh municipal polls will be the first big face-off between the BJP and the INDIA bloc. It will set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," he said.

The MP said that this election is going to change the picture and direction of politics in the country.

"The INDIA bloc will contest the Chandigarh municipal elections with full strength and register a historic and decisive victory. This victory will not be limited to Chandigarh, but will extend from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Manipur to Mumbai," Chadha said.

"The scorecard after the Chandigarh mayoral elections will be 1-0 in favour of the INDIA bloc. Whenever 'Team INDIA (bloc)' has faced off with any other team, the people of the country have always ensured that team INDIA (bloc) wins," he asserted.

Under the alliance arrangement for the mayoral elections, the AAP will fight for the mayor's seat while the Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

The INDIA bloc was formed by opposition parties, including the Congress, the AAP, the TMC and the Samajwadi Party, to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

During the press conference, Chadha was also asked about the Enforcement Directorate's summons to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal for appearing before the agency on January 18.

Kejriwal is consulting his lawyers on the matter, Chadha said.

After he failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kejriwal has been summoned for the fourth time in less than three months by the agency for questioning on January 18 in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

The 55-year-old leader had refused to depose before the ED for the third time on January 3, citing Rajya Sabha polls and Republic Day preparations.

Kejriwal had also questioned the motive behind the ED's actions, citing legal "objections" to the summons and accusing the agency of assuming the role of "judge, jury and executioner".